Goomster (Travis Seekman) will be looking for season win No. 16 in Monday’s Open trot at Hawthorne. (Patricia Fryman Photography)

By Mike Paradise for the I.H.H.A.

  How good is the three-year-old Illinois bred trotter Goomster?  Very good, would be the correct answer. But has he been good enough in his sophomore season to be named the 2023 Illinois Harness Horse of the Year?

 The Desirae Seekman trained Cassis offspring certainly must be in the conversation and another win in Monday’s second race Open trot will no doubt boost the trotter’s chances.

 Goomster put together a very strong freshman campaign when he earned over $120,000 for owner Dennis Gardner of West Salem, Illinois and finished first or second on 9 of his 12 starts, earning the ICF two-year-old male trotter of the year award.

 This year he’s been even better.

 Goomster has banked over $150,000 and has a whopping 15 first place finishes in 20 starts with four seconds. He’s missed being in an Exacta only once all year, a fourth-place finish back in mid-November at Hoosier Park when he raced first over part of the mile against open company.

 Goomster has not just dominated his Prairie State division. After capturing the $90,000 Erwin F. Dygert Memorial final on Hawthorne’s Night of Champions with his season long driver Travis Seekman, the talented trotter ventured to Hoosier Park where he won a $20,000 series trot and an $20,000 Open 3 event.

  Goomster came back to his home state in the latter part of November when he finished second to the Erv Miller stable’s well-regarded trotter Ponda Adventure in a Hawthorne Open and then went on to post victories in his next two races, a high-level conditioned pace and last week’s Hawthorne’s Open by almost six lengths.

 Goomster will open as the prohibitive 4-5 favorite in Monday’s second race. He was assigned the outside post but with only five horses going to the gate that should not be a problem. The trotter has shown he doesn’t need the lead to make it three consecutive victories at Hawthorne.

 Goomster’s main threat appears to be the Jim Eaton stable’s Perlucky again and. As usual, he’s a lock to scoot away from the starting gate. Perlucky has had the lead in all his recent Hawthorne starts.

 Rockyroad Aldo likely will make his presence felt leaving from the pole position with driver Robert Smolin. The Kimberly Roth trained 6-year-old most likely will be pushing the early pace.

 Lousdobb (p.p. 2, Mike Oosting) will be making his first start in about a month while Primed And Powerful (p.p. 3, Brandon Bates) obviously needed his latest outing after being sidelined for about seven months.

 From Last to First: Taking advantage of a fast early pace by others, the 15-1 longshot Mr Charisma came roaring down Hawthorne’s long stretch to finish first in a three-horse photo in Sunday’s $11,100 Open pace.

 Patiently handled by Brandon Bates, Mr. Charisa left from the outside post in the eight horse and raced last through much of the contest as the 70-1 longshot RJ Rock (Robert Smolin) took the feature field to a brisk 27.1 first quarter and then the 3-5 favorite Round Here Buzz (Mike Oosting) had command at the half, timed in :55.4.

 Mr Charisma ($32.60) still trailed with the length of the stretch to go. However, the Hector Herrera trained five-year-old gelding found in his stride in the last eight of the mile and nipped runner-up Macdavid (Todd Warren) and Round Here Buzz in the final strides of the 1:52,2 mile for winning owner Garcia Power Inc., of Crete, Illinois,.